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Homelessness

4. The following are proposals to help put an end to homelessness by 2012.
Please indicate whether or not you agree with each proposal and why, and if so what you will do to support them.

(a) Invest in building new affordable homes for rent and to protect and refurbish the housing we already have.

Yes No
Please elaborate further on your answer:

SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVES, Gavin Brown, Edinburgh Southern Candidate

No responses have been submitted yet.

SCOTTISH GREENS, Steve Burgess, Edinburgh Southern Candidate

Yes. Planning regulations must strengthen requirements on developers to provide affordable housing. The last thing Edinburgh needs is more "luxury flats". Furthermore we must look at ways to avoid waste in the housing industry by making good use of housing we already have which can be economically refurbished to a good standard of comfort and energy efficiency.

SCOTTISH LABOUR, Paul Godzik, Edinburgh Southern Candidate

Scottish Labour will work to meet the target that all unintentionally homeless people are offered a secure tenancy by 2012 and will provide guidance on the interpretation of homelessness and housing legislation. We will also review the effectiveness of current schemes to help those facing repossession, as well as implementing the pre-action protocols campaigned for by Labour.

Scottish Labour will ensure that housing allocations address priority needs - including the needs of key workers - but also that sufficient weight is given to meeting the needs of local people. We are committed to building housing that suits the specific needs of people, including older people and those with disabilities. We will therefore explore how best sensitive lettings can be used to support vulnerable people and to ensure sustainable communities. We will also fulfil our commitment to meeting the Scottish Housing Quality Standard and consult on raising building standards especially with regard to energy efficiency.

We understand the urgency of delivering homes that are affordable. Scottish Labour will introduce First Foot - a new mortgage indemnity guarantee scheme that will reduce the level of deposit required of first time home buyers to only five or ten per cent, helping them to realise their aspiration of owning a home.

We will examine how we can prioritise funding for housing and will explore alternative sources of finance - including establishing an infrastructure fund to encourage private developers - to ensure that more houses are built to satisfy demand. Scottish Labour will also consider the establishment of a new taskforce to identify the changing needs and challenges we face in housing supply and examine the role of local authorities, housing associations and co-operatives in increasing supply.

We will support community-based housing associations and housing co-operatives with a stable level of subsidy, ensuring they are able to fulfil their roles as community anchors providing a range of services for people in their local communities. We believe the time is now right to review the role of Cooperative Development Scotland and we will consider the part it might play in supporting the creation of housing cooperatives.

We will ensure that tenants are consulted on how their housing is provided and their local community is supported. We will put in place procedures so that the Housing Regulator, whilst fulfilling its regulatory role, is responsive to the views of tenants. Scottish Labour will look to establish a Housing Advisory Service which will provide aspirant tenants and homeowners with advice on housing tailored to their needs. We will also consider ways to establish a Housing Tribunal to simplify the ways of ruling on housing legislation.

Whilst we know that policies need to support stable communities, we recognise that housing needs are diverse. Housing should meet the needs of a range of people, including those seeking home ownership and middle market renting. Scottish Labour will require all property factors to comply with a code of conduct that will end the nightmare many homeowners face at the hands of unscrupulous factors.

We also recognise the contribution of the private rented sector to meeting affordable housing needs. We will seek to make further improvements in this sector and encourage responsible investment, tightening up the landlord registration scheme to root out rogue landlords and act to ensure that landlords take action to tackle anti-social behaviour and maintain standards in the properties they rent. Scottish Labour recognises that a credible strategy is needed to bring Scotland’s 25,000 long-term empty homes back into use. As a first step we will commit to funding the Empty Homes Partnership beyond 2012 and ensure that the Scottish Government’s housing budget can be used to bring empty properties back into use.

SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS, Mike Pringle, Edinburgh Southern Candidate
Liberal Democrats know that providing decent housing across Scotland is essential if we are to meet our long term ambitions for the economy and our health and social wellbeing. There is a major challenge in tackling the housing shortfall and our manifesto’s Housing Action Plan is focused on helping deliver more homes that are affordable, both in the heart of towns and cities and in rural areas. We will create the right conditions for a healthy, stable and sustainable private sector housing market. We recommit to the 2012 homeless target and will put in place a package of measures to help meet demand with supply. Different communities have different needs and the balance of tenure products required will vary throughout the country. We want to see flexible delivery of local solutions and a spread of spending across all tenures and income groups, including homes for affordable rent. We will widen the tenancies available for immediate rented housing, including widening the circumstances in which Short Scottish Secure Tenancies can be used. We will expand shared equity programmes and mortgage guarantees to help people make their first house purchase. Under our plans people will be able to build up through shared ownership, with a range of transitional or intermediate tenures. Develop community land trusts to secure and develop land within remote or rural communities providing affordable local homes to help keep rural areas vibrant. Pilot a new Home on the Farm initiative to allow conversions of agricultural buildings for housing. We have ambitious plans to bring Scotland’s empty homes back into use. We propose a new system to provide grants of up to £10,000 to home-owners who bring homes back into use, provided that they allow a housing association to rent it out for ten years.

SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY, Marco Biagi, Edinburgh Central Candidate
Yes. I think our record in the SNP on housing has been impressive. In the past four years we funded more affordable homes than the two previous administrations. Much of the additional money that arose was allocated to new housing as this was seen as a priority. This SNP Government has already taken the long overdue step of removing the Right to Buy from new tenants, and as a result councils are able to build their own housing again. This is creating thousands of units of new housing, but that is only the start. A re-elected SNP Government would allow pension funds to invest in new affordable housing stock and remove the Council Tax exemption for long-term unoccupied homes. This would create funding over and above existing funding streams, which are coming under pressure from Westminster. We will also roll out home improvements in energy efficiency on a universal basis.

Yes. The SSP policy is to build 100,000 new homes for rent each year until we have solved Scotland’s endemic and scandalous housing shortage. These new houses would belong to the public sector and would have rents set at affordable levels.

Yes. The SGP would certainly support such an initiative, and this would be greatly enhanced by introduction of our proposed Land Value Tax system, which would encourage property owners to make use of empty homes or sell them to those that will.